The Heiress

Ben and Cam drive to the nearby town of Tavistock to pick up supplies for Ashby House’s renovation. On the way, Ben makes small talk, asking about Cam’s job as a high-school English teacher, but Cam brings up their past and Ben’s bullying behavior. Ben claims that he was jealous of Cam because he was the McTavish heir.

In Tavistock, Cam notices that several stores have closed. Nelle, Ben, and Libby own several blocks of the downtown, as does Cam, and Ben tells Cam that they had to raise rents because they didn’t want to ask him for money. When they enter the local hardware store, the men in the store stop talking when they see Ben but are welcoming to Cam. They talk about how much they miss Ruby, and Cam is surprised to find that it is true for him as well—for the past 10 years, he has only remembered the bad memories of his childhood, but now the good memories are beginning to come back.

This chapter also features a letter from Cam to Ruby, dated 2004. He writes to her from summer camp, asking about rumors that the McTavish family gave a lot of money to the camp.